


The Approach.

by IsabelleMGLightwood5



Category: Original Work
Genre: F/M, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-27
Updated: 2016-08-27
Packaged: 2018-08-11 07:24:29
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,702
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7882048
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/IsabelleMGLightwood5/pseuds/IsabelleMGLightwood5
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Fairy Tale with multiple stories happening at once. </p><p>A Love Story.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Approach.

**Author's Note:**

> Wrote this with a very good friend of mine!

Once upon a time, there lived a young, (15-21) year old girl, named Iris Rose Simpson, who fell in love with someone she shouldn’t have. This girl even among her troubles had dreams. Dreams that she would see or be a light in a dark, dark, world. One of these dreams was to be with the one she loved, even if it went against what her friends and family wanted for her. In one day she took a chance she decided to let her feelings free and show them to the one she dreamed of. She shared her feelings through song and written word in journals and songs entries, in which she left in an area that only the one of her dreams and herself knew of. The boy, named Howard Anthony Webb, asked Iris but one question, “Why am I the one you dream of? Why do your dreams not wander far away from me?” Iris is speechless, for a moment and then responds, “I am not sure, but this is how I feel and I wanted you to know, no matter what happens next.” Howard responds by saying, “You are honest, that is good. A world lies before you, sometimes you will be faced with a choice of walking in a couple of directions. Go where your heart leads you. Eventually it will reward you.” With that, Howard lightly takes hold of her hand. She squeezes his hand with her own while saying, “I shall follow where my heart leads. Will you join me on this journey to find the way my heart leads?” Howard says but one thing more, “Only if we walk the honest path, together, I would like to see where it leads.” They embraced. The next day, the boy went to the girl’s father. The father, John Simpson, would not approve at first; but eventually he came to understand the boy. John finally said, “The day you become a man is the day you will be right for my daughter, I think that is not too far off though.” With that, he walked away, leaving Howard to ponder his words. Howard and Iris waited for the sound of Iris’s father’s footfalls to disappear before embracing a second time, along with leaning in for their first kiss. Days passed by, months flickered away, and the years arrived and said goodbye, when Howard eventually asked Iris, “Your heart is still lonely, what does it also yearn for?”  
“My heart yearns for none other than to be with you. And maybe to have another friend by my side, such as a dog, cat, fox, or wolf.” Iris responded.  
Howard states, “Step one, over there is a girl who speaks to only herself and none other. Go over and tell her your name and something interesting about yourself, maybe a goal. Once you have; come and tell me what you felt.”  
“I don’t quite understand what you want me to do?” Iris said hesitantly, staring Howard directly in the eyes, waiting for him to respond in simpler terms. He smiles, saying, “You will understand, just introduce yourself, and state a goal of yours; it doesn’t matter what the goal is, just talk with that girl over there. Then, come back to me and tell me what happened.” Howard responded in what he hoped were simpler words.  
She quietly nods, trying to gather the courage to go up to a complete stranger, no matter that they are of the same sex, but that she doesn’t know anything about how to properly communicate with others. She is shaking terribly, at just the thought of it, but she takes a soothing deep breath, and finally, although still albeit reluctantly, towards the young girl her love, Howard, had told her to talk to. Iris walks toward this unknown quiet girl, now becoming curious about her, Iris also wonders why she does not speak to anyone but herself. Iris gained enough courage to be able to speak her mind for a few minutes. Iris finally says, “Hi, my name is Iris Rose Simpson, what’s your name? It’s nice to meet you.” The quiet girl looks at Iris, observing her, but says nothing. Iris looks quite nervously at this other girl, saying, “I wish to have more friends!” Iris asks, “What is your name; will you be my friend?” The quiet girl still does not respond. That is until Iris begins walking away, trembling, and turns away from the other girl. Just as Iris is walking away, she hears the other girl call to her, “Iris,” the other girl said; Iris turned back around to face the other girl, “My name is Kira Maya Thompson, it is very nice to meet you. I want to have more friends as well.” Kira responded, as quietly as possible, and then glanced down at the ground. Iris, quite pleasantly surprised, responds, “well, Kira Maya Thompson, as you learned, I’m Iris Rose Simpson, it is nice to meet you too!” Iris then quickly avoids the other girl’s eyes, and hurriedly walks back to her love, Howard. Howard looks at Iris expectantly, simply asking, “Well?” As a response, Iris chuckles nervously, saying, “Well, we both want to have more friends. I learned her name was Kira Maya Thompson, and then we only chatted for a little bit and said it was nice to meet each other. I felt calmer once I actually got to talking to her, or I will feel that way more often when I get to talk with her more often.”  
Howard smiled, and said, “Like when you first talked to me. It’s all about “approach,” not necessarily the right approach, but just actually approaching another person.”  
“You’re right, I will follow that advice even more often in the future.” Then she asks, “When or how do I know if I can trust the person I want to talk to?” Howard responds as honestly as he can, “You have to find that out for yourself, either they make efforts to earn your trust, or you see them for who they are and you give them your trust.” Howard smiled slightly sadly at Iris, as he finished his thought. Iris smiles sadly back at him, a frown forming, clouding her eyes. Howard then asks her a question, “How did you know you could trust me?”  
Iris responds, cynically and cryptically simultaneously, “I looked into your eyes, which are the window to your soul. You came to me when I needed someone the most to be there right beside me, through what could be thick and thin.”  
Howard says, “You gave me a chance, in order to trust someone, you must give them a chance, everyone deserves a chance. A second chance, however, is a more difficult subject.” The past follows Iris, no matter what she does. Her past won’t leave her mind, not getting out of her thoughts, nor being so literally present action to changing her future. She dreams of her past, day and night. And always cycles because of her inability to forget. The memories get worse and her thought process, being the way or how she thinks, worsens and decreases by the day. One day, Howard knocks on the door of the house Iris resides in. On that particular day, it was the anniversary of the death of one person close to Iris. Iris’s father, John Simpson, came to the door with a very melancholic expression, he simply said, “Comfort her, this is not a good day for her, if she is truly trusting of you then you will learn. Approach carefully.” With that, Iris’s father opened the door to the house wider, allowing Howard to walk inside. Iris’s father closed the door after Howard. Howard turns to Iris’s father and asks, “Where is she? Do you know why she is like this?” Iris’s father quietly answered, “Death came on this day five years ago, since then she has grieved and never been able to be as open as she was to anyone. I dare say you are the first person who is the closest she has almost completely opened up to.” Howard is shocked by Iris’s father’s statement but does not allow that feeling of shock to stop him in his tracks. He looks directly into the father’s eyes and says, “I’ll do anything I can to help her. Just tell me how you think I could best go about comforting her.” Iris’s father replies, “Do what you know best and do not bring up the past unless she confides in you. Show her your support in this hard time.” Howard is still concerned and confused. He is again looking the father straight in the eyes, and asks, “How am I supposed to comfort her and be a confidant if I do not know the entire situation and story?” He glares slightly at the father, now a bit angry as well as confused and concerned. The father with a watery look in his eyes says, “Our older daughter Megan, was out for a drive and lost her life to a drunk driver five years ago. Megan wanted her little sister to come along but after a feud, the two went different directions. They could never make up and that has haunted Iris to this day. Again, do what you have been doing and I am sure that you will be welcomed.” With that, Iris’s father left the door open to another room in the home, walking into yet another room, leaving Howard behind. Howard walked hesitantly through to the room that Iris’s father had just entered. Howard wonders whether that is where his love, Iris is residing at that moment. He looks into said room, and sees his love, Iris, sitting on the floor facing scrapbook after scrapbook. She had her hair up in a ponytail and was wearing a plain t-shirt and sweatpants. She did not turn her head, even when she heard movement, instead she kept her head bowed towards the specific scrapbook she was looking through. Howard quietly sat down on the floor beside his love, Iris Rose Simpson. He remains silent, until finally she looks up at him. “Hey” he says once she finally looked up at him. She looked up and says “hey” back, but then she looks down yet again, back at her current scrapbook. Howard looks down, back at the book as well. The two sit in a comfortable companionable silence. Iris shifts the scrapbook she was looking at, at that moment, closer to Howard, allowing him to have a better look or view of and at the many pictures of the scrapbook, with her. Howard zeroes in on one specific picture, a picture of a young woman holding a young girl, both people looked strikingly similar. The young woman and little girl in the picture, both had wide, happy smiles. They appeared to have been laughing at the time the photo was taken. They both had dark blonde hair and blue, almost gray eyes. Howard asks Iris carefully about the people in the photograph. He asks, “Do you know who these people are, Iris?” while pointing to the specific picture his question related to. Iris quietly speaks, “That is myself and my older sister, Megan. I was about six in this picture. Megan was about ten years old, she was close to four years older than me.” “Interesting,” Howard responds, quietly, hoping to himself that she would be able to go more in depth with her descriptions. However, Iris does not say anything else, and instead continues to look at more of the pictures. Howard, feeling the awkwardness surrounding them, said nothing more. They remained silently staring at the pictures inside of the scrapbook still in Iris’s hands. There is still a companionable silence between the two, despite a slight feeling of awkwardness on Howard’s part, however, the companionable silence is becoming slowly more awkward without any conversation between the two of them. To try to break the increasingly awkward silence, Howard finally says, “Are you thirsty, Iris?” Iris glances up at him, surprised, almost as if she had forgotten that he was even there, sitting right beside her. She quickly clears her throat, trying to cover up her shock and surprise. Then Iris responds, saying, “I should probably be the one asking you that, Howard. Particularly since you are currently a visitor to my home. But no, I am not particularly thirsty. Question is, are you thirsty?” Howard thinks of the logic behind that particular statement, and in his mind, Howard does a face palm. Then, the words, “It’s all about approach,” pop into his mind. He wonders to himself what he should do next. He makes a more than likely illogical, rash judgement. But he doesn’t stop to think of the consequences, another error of his ways, the first error being thinking of the illogical and rash thought in the first place. Finally, Howard says to Iris, slowly standing up in the process, “Well I’m thirsty, and since I am a visitor, I do not know my way around. Which way is your kitchen?” Before Iris could even try to answer his question, he pulled Iris up to her proper height, away from the sitting position she had probably been in for far too long for one day. Surprised, she leads him to the kitchen. Howard saw Iris’s father when the two arrived in the kitchen. Iris’s father was giving or letting off an uneasy smile in Howard’s general direction. This smile is Iris’s father’s way of showing that he, Iris’s father is unsure that the action he took, letting him, Howard know the reason for his daughter’s sadness; was the correct choice. Iris’s father gave Howard a smile filled with tension and uncertainty. Howard gave John Simpson a slight nod in acknowledgement. Howard could tell that John was re-thinking his own decision of telling him, Howard, the story. But then again, Howard had not given him much of a choice. Howard had basically demanded John tell him the truth of why Iris was sad. In present time, Howard and Iris, with Iris leading the way, have reached the kitchen; coming in from the door to their right was a silver refrigerator, next to a silver dishwasher. The counter tops were black with dark brown cabinets toping the scene nicely; the sink, like the fridge and dishwasher was also silver. A window sat above the sink and gave a nice view of the backyard. Howard, now knowing where the fridge was located opened the refrigerator door, where he finally picked a full and unopened water bottle. Howard took said water bottle from a shelf and closed the fridge. Then he opened the water bottle, took one large gulp of water, and then he offered the same bottle to Iris and John. “Thirsty, either of you?” He asks. Both of them shake their heads, no, neither one of them is thirsty. Iris walked around Howard, opened the fridge, and grabbed a container of sliced pineapple, and began nibbling on it. She looked at Howard and her father, and asked, “Do you want any, Howard, dad?” Howard nods, putting “his” water bottle down on the nearby counter-top, and says, “Sure, I’ll have a bite.” Howard leans forward picking out a specifically nice piece of pineapple. Slowly bringing it closer to his mouth, he proceeds to chew the piece of pineapple. “Yum! Thanks, Iris!” he says quite cheerfully. Howard then swallowed the pineapple, at least he tried to. Pineapple was not his kind of fruit, by no means, but he accepted it, because he did not want to upset Iris at that moment. He still had a very hard time getting the piece of pineapple down. Discreetly he took a sip from “his” water bottle that had been on the counter. Finally, he was able to wash the pineapple down with the help of the water. Howard was able to quickly swallow down both the water and bite of pineapple in one swallow!! Iris at that moment, exited the kitchen. She sat back down in front of the scrapbook with her back turned to John and Howard. John looked at Howard with a frown, then John turned his head back towards his daughter. John is silently telling Howard that he, Howard, should follow Iris again. Do something that John cannot, which is getting her talking and or, comforted. Howard pondered what the most effective means of getting Iris to talk was. He ponders for a minute what would be good. Howard glanced from John to Iris, and back again. He was not sure what he should do next. John motioned to where Iris was, emphatically, wordlessly, telling Howard to join her and just DO something. Howard clueless, sat down; death had not been something he had dealt with. No one close to him had ever died, so he really did not have any experience. With a click in his brain, he had an idea. “Iris, I have a fun idea, why don’t we tell a little story?” “I’ll start,” “Once Upon A Time,” Howard began. “What kind of story do you want this to be?” Iris asked him. Howard responded, “A fantasy would be interesting, what stories do you like, Iris?” He asked Iris. “Mr. Simpson, do you have any ideas to pitch in?” He asked Iris’s father, John Simpson. Howard looked up while he asked this question, noticing that John Simpson was watching himself, Howard, and Iris, still, watching them from the kitchen. As John speaks, he walks slowly towards Iris’s room with scrapbooks strewn all around her floors. “How about… a story with dragons, Ninja, and someone having to protect a Princess. But then, the people who are supposed to protect the Princess are defeated; and now the Princess must learn to be powerful on her own.” John Simpson responds. Howard abruptly adds, shouting, “That is absolutely perfect!!!” Then Howard adds to the advancement of the story, “In a land called ‘Caleria,’ there lived a Princess whose beauty shown to the farthest reaches of the Kingdom. Many in the Kingdom of Caleria, saw her and wished for her hand, in marriage; but her parents would not accept anyone they saw unfit. The interesting thing is they also said, “If our daughter does not see a future with you, then you will not have her hand in marriage.” The Kind and Queen tell possible suitors of their daughter. “And there came to be four or more young men who came to try their way in getting the Princess’s hand in marriage. They also want to find a way to protect her in the future; many tried but none succeeded.” Howard continued to add to the story. The more Iris, John, and Howard, continue their story, the more that Iris gets into the act of telling a story. The three finish their story. Iris begins smiling widely at Howard and her dad. She states, “This was a great idea, dad, Howard.” Howard smiles and says, “It doesn’t have to end there, we could take it as a “where the wind takes us,” type of story idea.” Howard looks from Iris to her father, and he smiles at both of them. Mr. Simpson smiles back with Iris, at Howard. Then Mr. Simpson says, smiling extremely happily, “Very good idea, that was, Howard.” Howard replies, “Thanks, Mr. Simpson.”  
“If you had to give this story one quote, what would it be?” Howard asked. In response to this question, Iris is giving him a questioning, confused glance, all the while asking him, “Give the story one quote? What do you mean?” Howard responds, “When you have a movie, there is a quote typically on the poster and sometimes one in the trailer, what best describes this story?” Iris begins thinking to herself. “A quote for this story,” she mutters to herself, still thinking silently. “There is always a reason for why people protect each other; does that work as a quote? It is not really something that is directly mentioned in the story, but I think it works; what do you think? Dad? Howard?” Howard was first to respond. “That is a great one! I think mine would be, “Who would you let into your life to see your life?” “Not as good as yours, Iris, but that is what I could come up with.” Howard stated. “Maybe we could use both quotes?” Iris asked, curious; she liked Howard’s idea better than her own. Howard smiled and said, “That would be an even greater idea!!” Iris nods her head enthusiastically in complete agreement. Then she glanced over at her dad, looking questioningly at him; wordlessly asking for his opinion, and his own idea for a quote. “What would it take for you to protect a total stranger?” “That is my quote; and I like the idea of using both or all three of these quotes combined for this story,” Mr. Simpson said.  
“… That is a surprising rather unexpected question.” Howard stared, shocked at Mr. Simpson. “What is a total stranger really though?” Howard questioned, then stated, “Everyone is a total stranger until someone gets the chance to know you or them.” Mr. Simpson looked at him, saying, “Do you think that that is true for everyone?”  
“I believe so, at least for myself; that is my own opinion though.” Howard answered.  
Mr. Simpson said, “I see.” “Well, will you be staying for dinner/supper, Howard?” John asked Howard. “Sure, if it is alright with you; let me just make sure it is alright with my mom or dad.” Howard responded. Mr. Simpson says, “Ok, Iris, will you help me prepare supper/dinner?” “Can I help you too, Mr. Simpson?” Howard asked as he walked back into the room after calling his parents. “My parents are allowing me to stay.” Then Mr. Simpson spoke, “Brilliant! Now, Howard, do you know how to make bacon turkey casserole with smoked vegetables on the side?”  
“Not really,” Howard replied, “My family doesn’t particularly enjoy bacon or turkey; but I love cooking, working with and eating most vegetables!”  
Mr. Simpson chuckles saying, “I was actually joking, I don’t think I have ever had such a dish. We would be glad if you would help us, Howard.” “Oh,” Howard was shocked, he couldn’t believe that Mr. Simpson was actually joking with him! Mr. Simpson looked seriously at Howard, asking, “So, tell me, Howard, what are you able to cook?”  
“I can microwave things very well, ha-ha. I can slice and sauté vegetables, and cook some noodles, and such like; but I don’t do or get the chance to cook very often.” Howard responded, after a short pause. Mr. Simpson smiled, saying, “Well, we are going to have to fix that,” he pauses, walking up close to Howard, so Mr. Simpson can whisper in Howard’s ear, “If you want to really surprise Iris, then cooking is the way to go. Don’t worry I will show you how.” In response, Howard’s face turns bright scarlet red. He turned quickly away from both of the other people in the room, terrified that they would notice his blushing face! The three of them began cooking. It took them around an hour and a half. Just as they’d finished preparing the meal, a Mercedes Benz pulled into the driveway of Iris’s house. Out of the Mercedes stepped out a woman in very formal business clothing, the woman looked to be in her late thirties, or early forties. Howard is extremely surprised and confused by the sighting of this woman. The woman then walked to the side door, and walked into the mudroom, walking down the hallway, until she finally reached the kitchen where Mr. Simpson, Howard, and Iris, were just beginning to sit down to eat. The woman stood completely still. Then, Iris looked up at the woman, saying, “Good to see you, mom.”  
“MOM?!” Howard “silently” whisper-shouted in his mind, or so he had thought, as he’d also accidentally literally voiced his shock, out loud. Mrs. Simpson looked at Howard with a very serious look and then said, “I believe this is the part where you tell me your name.” Howard is still shocked, completely and utterly speechless, and is unable to speak a single word. Mrs. Simpson looked at this unknown boy (who is in her house) with a rather puzzled expression finally asking, “Is there a problem?”  
Still shocked, but realizing that he must seem quite rude, Howard finally decided to speak up; stating his name and how he knew the family, while extending his hand to Mrs. Simpson. She grasps his hand, shaking it. “Maria Simpson, pleased to meet you. You must be the one Iris has been speaking so much about.”  
“MOM?!” Iris yelled, shocked, her face becoming increasingly more red and colorful. Maria shook her head, saying, “I beg your pardon, I can sometimes be rather blunt.” She turned her attention to her husband and asked, “Who cooked supper/dinner, tonight, John?” Maria Simpson asked, because usually she is the one in the family who cooks the meals for the rest of the family; it was a happy surprise, but still a shock.

Howard looks at Iris who is nervously looked down at her food. Howard very bluntly says, “How come you have never told me about these parents of yours?” with a very bright smile. Iris looks back at Howard, shyly and smiles a small smile, responding, "They can be rather odd at times, and have changed quite a lot after the death of my sister. We all changed quite a bit, after her death, Howard." Howard looks at Maria and John who are looking back at him after that with rather forced smiles. Howard looks at Maria and asks, "What kind of person was she?” "She was an amazing person, a brilliant daughter and even better sister, to Iris; Howard." "What was her name Iris?" It was the obvious question to ask after hearing that, someone as wonderful as her ought to be spoken by name he calmly thought to himself. "Megan" Iris responded. "She was amazing, but on the day that she was killed, died, she and i had had a fight we hadn't been getting along so well. She wanted me to join her on the drive the day she was killed."  
Howard looks at Iris who is nervously looked down at her food. Howard very bluntly says, “How come you have never told me about these parents of yours?” with a very bright smile. Iris looks back at Howard, shyly and smiles a small smile, responding, "They can be rather odd at times, and have changed quite a lot after the death of my sister. We all changed quite a bit, after her death, Howard." Howard looks at Maria and John who are looking back at him after that with rather forced smiles. Howard looks at Maria and asks, "What kind of person was she?” "She was an amazing person, a brilliant daughter and even better sister, to Iris; Howard." "What was her name Iris?" It was the obvious question to ask after hearing that, someone as wonderful as her ought to be spoken by name he calmly thought to himself. "Megan," Iris responded. "She was amazing, but on the day that she was killed, died, she and I had had a fight we hadn't been getting along so well. She wanted me to join her on the drive the day she was killed."  
Howard thinks through what he just heard, not sure of what the appropriate reaction was (or would be). There was something he wanted to say to her, however, before any facial cues told him otherwise, he simply kept his composure and responded, "I am sure that has not been an easy thing to carry."  
"No, it definitely has not been something easy to carry; she was one of the few people I could talk to and not worry about having to be someone else. I didn't have to seriously think to myself about how to please my older sister. She treated me as more than a friend, more than a sister, but as an equal!" Iris responded, with a frown that was more like a sad smile.  
Maria looks at Iris and says, "I left my wallet in the car, could run out and fetch it my Iris?" Howard starts to say something, but Maria speaks and says, "Now now, you are our guest so, you don't have to worry about anything. Iris, I will take you to get some Ice Cream this weekend." Iris starts to smile with some of the sadness fading and she gets up and exits the front door. Howard's eyes follow Iris's retreating back, he has a curious expression fueling his facial expression. (This statement needs work!!) He faces Iris's parents, looking from where he is standing to the front door. Making sure that Iris wouldn't quickly come back into the room. Finally, Howard asked, "Why did you do that? Mrs. Simpson? I would have been just happy to be able to help you, ma'am. I just want to be able to understand Iris better."  
Maria looks at Howard and says, "I respect that about you, kid, I really do. However, your approach needs some work. If you want to understand Iris better, then inquire about herself, but at the proper times. Iris has never opened up in front of a group of people, and when she does; it has always ended in despair. You may have seen her look a little sad, but further underneath that is turmoil; that only time and certain things can heal. If you want to help her heal, then just listen to her when the occasion calls for it. Trust me. If you are good to her, she will be good to you, that’s all there is to it."  
"Wow, I appreciate the advice, Mrs. Simpson, Thank You very much." Howard responded, smiling happily, with a slightly shocked smile.  
John says, "Times may get tough. And you may get tough on each other, but working through it makes it even better. After hardships is the best....” Before he can finish his statement, though, Maria grabs his cheek and says with a creepy smile, "Not in front of our guest; dear."  
Howard is shocked by what he filled in the gaps of Mr. Simpson's statement. His response is to blush a deep and dark varying shade of crimson red. Howard quickly shifts his gaze to the front door which had finally opened again, revealing Iris.  
Iris walks in, seeing as if the scenes in the kitchen were the same as she left it. She quietly puts the wallet back into her mother’s purse. She sits back down and puts on a somewhat forced smile. Howard looks at Iris; and says then asks, "I have been meaning to ask you, Iris, have you ever heard of the band Wayward Path?" Iris responds, with a shocked, surprised expression. "No, at least not that I can easily recall, Howard." Iris continued to smile her rather forced smile. But now she was beginning to calm herself down by breathing in deeply and exhaling. Howard responds by saying, "They are pretty new, I happen to have tickets to a concert of theirs that is coming up soon so I wanted to ask (you) if you would like to, or be able to come with me?"  
"I'll have to think about it, Howard," Iris responded, quickly averting her eyes from Howard to the floor, then she looks back up at him, shyly. At the moment that Iris's eyes had been averted, Howard looked almost pleadingly at Iris's parents. Silently questioning them whether it would be alright with them. Maria and John silently glanced at one another, and looked at the other two people in the kitchen, and back again. "We will make a decision soon, Howard." Maria said; she was usually the one of the two parents whom normally came up with the decisions. Howard was surprised, but exceptionally happy, he beamed (an extreme smile) and quickly hugged Maria Simpson, in the process shocking himself as well as everyone else in the room.  
Maria has that aura about her of uncertainty, Howard lets go of her and returns to his seat. Iris and John observe him. The room is silent; except for the sounds every now and then of silver ware scratching against plates, everyone continues eating, and the night continues. The surrounding area and situation has suddenly become awkward. Howard looks down and averts his eyes from the family until the meal is finished. He feels so stupid and wants to face-palm but controls himself and does nothing. It’s getting nigh close (very close or near time) for him to make his way home. Maria has glanced at him from time to time, but said nothing. After the meal they decide to watch a little t.v. Nothing of interest was on though so they ended up just staring at a cooking channel for a little while. It was a new kind of awkward.  
Howard wants to stand up and start getting home, but he doesn't want to leave Iris's home with this awkward feeling. He feels nervous butterflies bubbling up in his chest. He asks for the remote instead, wondering if there would be anything of interest on Disney Channel; Cartoon Network; or True or fictional crime t.v. shows, anything to be able to change and avert the strange awkwardness. They come across “BONES”, which Iris had been interested in. Before the channel changed Iris sternly said, "Let’s stay on this channel, Howard." As an afterthought, Iris adds, “Please.” "Alright, Iris." Howard replies, keeping the t.v. channel on “BONES.” They watch “BONES” for a good hour, the awkwardness slowly but surely, wearing off, when Howard finally realizes that he needs to be heading home as it is getting rather late. He gets ups and says, "Thank you all for the meal and for having me, I will see you at school tomorrow Iris!" Iris says, feeling rather disappointed, "Alright, I wish you could stay longer, but if you really need to get home, be careful." Howard looks at Iris with a reassuring smile. He finally looks at Mr. and Mrs. Simpson and says "Thank you again, see you all soon!" Before Howard had the chance to leave them, simultaneously, Iris, John, and Maria, all called out to him; "Wait a second, Howard." Howard cautiously turned around to face the three Simpsons. The three rushed up to him, and hugged him simultaneously. No longer nervous or worried to be around him. Iris speaks first, finally answering Howard's original question, by giving him a small kiss on the cheek, while saying, "Yes I would love to go with you, Howard to see this band, the "Wayward Path." Howard is shocked and looks around the room, his eyes moving from Iris, (who smiles widely at him) to John (who nods his head) and lastly to Maria, whom also smiles widely with a nod of her head! "Wow, Thank you so much, all of you, Iris, I really hope that you will really enjoy yourself!" Howard said almost jumping up and down with sheer excitement!

Howard lived a few blocks away from the Simpson’s house so that did not make things very difficult for him. When he got home, only the kitchen light was on. When he walked in, he saw a woman in a black dress passed out on the table. The air reeked of alcohol. He carried her to the couch knowing that he alone could not get her up the stairs. He put a blanket over her and started to leave. He thought to himself, "She was just in rehab, what are Dad and I going to do now?" He pondered it no further, and instead went into the kitchen to clean up after his mother. Howard was saddened by the sight he had to behold of his mother, drunk, and yet again abusing alcohol. He truthfully wanted his mother to start getting better, and to finally stop her bad drinking habits.  
He finally finished cleaning her up and then slowly headed upstairs, looking at his mother one last time before he headed to bed. Howard wanted to stay in his bed, as soon as his head hit his pillow, because he fell asleep almost as soon as his head hit the pillow, out like a light. As he was falling asleep, Howard started dreaming. He dreamed of Iris, in the dream, the air was thick; fog was everywhere, and she was fading out into the distance, he ran toward her and right as she faded, he woke up sweating. Howard wasn't sure whether this dream could have been a premonition or not, but he didn't feel like trying to consciously recreate or continue the same dream, it didn't seem like a good idea. Despite Howard having fallen almost immediately asleep right when his head landed softly on his pillow, he didn't want to try to continue sleeping. Instead he decided to go back downstairs and check on his more than likely hung-over mother. She was still sleeping, his father had not gotten home yet as he looked out the window. Howard wasn't sure whether he wanted to go back to his room, he wanted to care for his mother some more, at least until his father came back. So, Howard decided to sit in a chair near the couch he had moved his mother to. He sat down, facing both the window, and his mother. He put his feet up on the foot stool, wanting to just extend his feet, give his legs a rest.  
He saw his mother move a bit but she did not wake up from the sleep the alcohol had undoubtedly helped put her into. Howard rubbed his hand down his face. "Stay strong," He thought to himself; that was all he could do. He saw a car pull up about an hour later. He decided to go outside and think of how he was going to tell his father this instead of him seeing it for himself.  
Howard mumbled to himself as he walked out of the door of his house, to meet his father before his father witnessed the scene inside of the house. Howard didn't want his father to feel bad about the sight that would await him. However, Howard was unsure of how to even tell his own father about his own mother drinking again!  
The car door opened and a man wearing a black suit with shoulder length black hair stepped out of the car, if anyone had looked at him they would probably guess correctly that he was a part of a large business. The way he carried himself as he walked toward Howard could tell one as much. He looked at his son with a smile and said, "Were you out that late Howard?" Howard paused before responding to his father's question, finally saying, "I was spending time with a friend from school, Iris Rose Simpson and her parents; dad."  
His father simply looked at his son and said "Did you have fun son? Is something building between you and this Iris?” Howard became increasingly worried about where this discussion was heading towards. His father was the joker of the family and almost everyone could tell that!  
He simply said, "Nothing is going on Dad." His father just nudged him and put an arm around his son ad he started for the door. Howard halted his father and stood in front of him. Howard's father, Edward Robin Webb, was surprised, at his son's actions. Edward's mouth went wide open in shock. Howard mustered the courage and said, "Dad, I really did not want you to walk in and see this but you do need to know, Mom has been drinking again.” Edward Webb stared at his son in utterly, complete shock and disbelief. He walked past his son, slightly pushing him out of the way, not enough to hurt Howard, but just enough to force Howard to move out of Edward's way. Edward walked in to the house, to see his wife passed out on the couch. Howard could not see his father’s face. All Howard could hear was his father lifting his wife; Howard’s mother, onto his back, carrying her upstairs. Howard slowly followed his father, who was carrying his mother. Howard wanted to talk with his father, be there to calm his anger down if possible, because Edward hated it when his wife, Ariel Lara Abell-Webb drank.  
Edward signaled his son to come down stairs. Howard followed his father as they walked down the stairs. Edward sat on the couch and covered his face. "Son, I don’t know what else to try, we gave her that picture of Lory for Christmas, but maybe that was a mistake." Howard firmly stated, "Having a memory of both her mother and now her daughter is probably one of the few things that’s helping her."  
Howard tries to get his father to look up at him by literally saying, "Dad, look at me." Edward looks up at his son. Howard says, "I like this even less than you do, dad. I don't want to be able to see myself becoming like mom in this way. We; that is, you, me, and mom, have to stick together. We need to find a way to get mom out of this drunken shell of a human."  
Edward bitterly smiled at his son. Howard finally swallowed really hard, "I will help you pay the bills Dad, just please let me. Dad, when Grandma and Lory died we all lost a bit of ourselves, but Mom took it the worst. I think Lory would have done the same.”  
His father took a long hard look at his son, and finally said, “I can help you find a job son, if you are willing to get things back to normal, then I will work with you!” “What kind of job, dad?” Howard asked, his expression one of a combination of slight sadness, happiness, and shock. Howard is trying to think of possible jobs that himself and his dad could even possibly work at or on together, but he comes up with nothing. So he looks back at his dad, wanting to ask him what he is thinking about, job wise. Edward finally says, “There is a smaller company, which works for the one my company owns, I can pull a few strings and get you in there. With that, I can monitor and help you to some degree.” Howard responds, with a wide smile and shocked expression. Howard was definitely not expecting to work with a company that his father works with. Howard just wanted to get closer to his dad and out of the house a bit more often than he'd been going out. Howard didn't, however, want to be one of those kids whom solely rely on their parent's income and mindsets to plan out what the child or children will do or say or even if they will be successful or become a failure. His father says, "Get to bed son, tomorrow is the weekends beginning, and we can talk more about it then." Howard agrees, nodding his head, and one arm hugs his father, saying, "Night, dad. I'll see you tomorrow then. We should get talking about this stuff, it will be really neat!" His father looks serious and says, "Remember son, this is for your mother, be there for her and remember to keep looking forward even among the darkest nights. At the end of the darkness, dawn always comes, so walk that road until you find it. Goodnight Howard." With that his father walks up stairs and closes the door to his wife's and his room. Howard slowly, almost as quietly as a mouse, walks up the stairs of his house to his bedroom, grabs, a book and starts writing inside it. The book is actually a journal, his own hopefully completely private, journal.  
He begins to write in his journal, Dear Diary, today brought forth many emotions and past and new challenges. I will start with the new and old challenge. I came home to the sight of my mother who was passed out on the table drunk. As I have written earlier, my sister, Lory Ann Webb went missing a year and a half ago. No one knows where or why she left. She may have been kidnapped, for all we know. After six months, the police called off the search. My mother had just recently lost her mother to a terrible disease. My mother started drinking heavily, after a while we got her into rehab and things seemed to get better, that is, until tonight. Howard continues to write in his diary, I don't want this to continue, I love both of my parents in different ways, they understand me, and I know that they love (and loved) Lory the same way. I can't believe that she could willingly run away from us though. I thought she and I had connected well; I love everyone I can actually trust and get close to. I don't know where things will go from here, but, I have just learned, from my dad that there is the possibility of me getting a job. This in turn, will lighten the load, or burden, on my parents. I am kind of excited. It may very well be tough, but if I can do something to help them; then maybe things could get better. Some people have called me a believer, but believers can make things happen. I don't think I am one of those kinds of believers, though, and i doubt myself, quite often. I guess we will have to see what comes from me going forward. The only thing I can do, is to look toward the dawn of a brand new day; because, honestly, that’s all I really can do.

**Author's Note:**

> I hope everyone likes this. If there are mistakes of any sort I am sorry. Also please comment if there are any errors or mistakes.


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